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Monday, March 12, 2007

- Could the weekend possibly have yielded yet another Derby contender for Todd Pletcher? After his filly Rags to Riches made a mockery of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks against four hapless opponents at 2-5, Pletcher said:

"When we first started out...the plan was the Las Virgenes, the Santa Anita Oaks and the Kentucky Oaks. But when you get a filly that's bred like this -- that, obviously, the farther they go, the better she's supposed to get -- it makes you think about other possibilities."....Rags to Riches has been nominated to the Triple Crown by her owner, Michael Tabor. "She'll probably stick with the girls," Tabor said cautiously. "But at the end of the day, you never know." [United Press International]

The half-sister to Jazil made up about a length in a final 2 1/2 furlongs of 31.05 seconds; a rate of approximately 24.84 for a quarter. And as the trainer noted, she should only get better as the distances get longer.

- Richard Violette didn't seem to even want Summer Doldrums to run another big race in the Gotham, and the son of Street Cry accommodated him, helped by some 'crud' in his lungs.

"It was like cottage cheese crud in his lungs....Other than that he's fine. I figured he would 'bounce' off the Whirlaway and when you combine that with the crud in his lungs, he ran the way he should. This will set him up nicely for the Wood." [NY Daily News]